Online Games Linked To Drugs, Murder, Teen Pregnancy

In a program titled “Confession of a Murderer — Focus on Pornography and Violence in Online Games (Part Two), China Central Television on Thursday reported on a Beijing juvenile prison where one man was serving a life sentence for murders he committed to obtain virtual equipment in an online game. The report said, up to 80 percent of the violent criminals in the prison turned to crime because of online games. It further said, “He himself killed five people, and the reason he took the path to crime was addiction to violent online games,”.

An article on Yahoo News quotes CCTV programs and mentions other reported crimes:

1. Chinese authorities had alarmed Social ills on online games and given voice to concerns among some Chinese parents that excessive time spent on games and social-networking sites is interfering with their children’s schoolwork.

2. A CCTV series told the story of a 14-year-old girl purportedly influenced by an online dancing game to start having sex with people she met online. The game, called “Audition,” was said to encourage one-night stands and the girl to have had two abortions.

3. CCTV this month also aired a report on teenagers who became addicted to cough medicine and then drugs like methamphetamine as a way to keep their energy up during all-night gaming marathons. The boys were said to spend their time in Internet cafes, which are often filled with chain-smoking young men using instant-messaging programs and playing online games.

China has the largest number of Internet users in any country with at least 338 million people online. Over 210 million of those people play online games, according to a government survey.

GT Analysis

Games and movies which are violent and have sexual content needs to be kept out of young minds. China has taken good steps in analyzing this behavior. They seem to be going too harsh, but Actions needs to be taken to make sure bad internet content does not affect society in bad way.